Preview: Indiana at Nebraska

January 30, 2014|Reuters

When Nebraska last hosted Indiana, the Cornhuskers stunned a ranked Hoosiers squad for what was easily their biggest win of that season. While another home victory Thursday wouldnâÂÂt register the same amount of surprise this time around, it would serve as another critical triumph for Nebraska, which downed then-No. 13 Indiana 70-69 on Jan. 18, 2012. The Cornhuskers, who defeated Ohio State at home earlier this month, improved to 9-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena with SundayâÂÂs win over Minnesota.

The first order of business for the Hoosiers to avoid another loss in Nebraska will be to find an answer for Terran Petteway, who ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring (18.2 points) after erupting for a career-high 35 against the Golden Gophers. âÂÂ(Petteway) is absolutely fearless and plays both ends of the floor extremely well. âÂÂ¦ I think he's going to be very tough to deal with,âÂÂ Indiana coach Tom Crean told the schoolâÂÂs official website. The Hoosiers ended a two-game slide with SundayâÂÂs 56-46 home victory over fading Illinois, but they are a mere 2-5 away from home thus far.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT INDIANA (13-7, 3-4 Big Ten): The Hoosiers finished with a plus-14 rebounding margin âÂÂ the largest differential for the school in conference play âÂÂ and continue to have their way on the glass, winning or tying their opponent on the boards in 19 of 20 games. Indiana limited Illinois to a season low-tying four offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points. âÂÂThat was paramount; (Illinois is) one of the best offensive rebounding teams around ... and had 25 offensive rebounds when they went to Wisconsin (on Jan. 8). Our rebounding was really strong,âÂÂ Crean told the schoolâÂÂs official website.

ABOUT NEBRASKA (10-9, 2-5): Deverell Biggs âÂÂ the teamâÂÂs third-leading scorer at 9.9 points âÂÂ was dismissed from the team Tuesday for unspecified reasons. That could mean even more offensive pressure on Petteway, who became the 13th Cornhusker with multiple 30-point games in his career, tied the 10th-highest single-game scoring effort in school history Sunday and scored the most points by a Cornhusker since Aleks Maric had 36 against Iowa State in 2007. "He's a machine, he really is; he can score in transition and make 3s. I'm not going to risk slowing him down a little bit," coach Tim Miles told the schoolâÂÂs official website.

TIP-INS

1. In its loss to Michigan State and the victory over Illinois, Indiana started three freshmen (Noah Vonleh, Stanford Robinson and Troy Williams) in consecutive contests for the first time since the last five games of the 2010 season.

2. Each of NebraskaâÂÂs last five games has been decided by six points or fewer.

3. The 82 points the Cornhuskers scored Sunday were their most in a conference tilt since joining the Big Ten while the 46 points Indiana allowed to Illinois were its fewest in any game under Crean.